Frein jury selection continues

Lawyers began questioning jurors individually Monday as they continue the process to find an impartial jury to hear the case against Eric Matthew Frein.

Frein, 33, of Canadensis, is facing the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder in the September 2014 ambush of the Blooming Grove state police barracks in Pike County that left Cpl. Bryon K. Dickson II of Dunmore dead and wounded Trooper Alex T. Douglass of Olyphant.

Following the sniper attack, Frein led law enforcement on a 48-day manhunt through the forests in Pike and Monroe County. Frein was capture on Oct. 30, 2014, by the U.S. Marshal Service in a field near the abandoned Birchwood-Pocono Airpark in Pocono Township.

Jury selection began Thursday in Chester County, in part because of the extensive media coverage of the 48-day manhunt for Frein in Pike and Monroe counties. Opening arguments will begin in early April in Milford.

On Monday, prosecutors and defense attorneys questioned about 10 potential jurors one by one, according to defense attorney Michael Weinstein.

If a jury convicts Frein, they will then decide whether to impose the death penalty. That means jury selection is a more painstaking process than in other criminal cases.

“Can they follow the law, (questions) about the death penalty,” Weinstein said about the questions lawyers asked potential jurors Monday. “A lot of them talked about the hardship of a trial” expected to last a month.

Jury selection is expected to take about two ½ weeks to complete, Weinstein said. The courthouse was closed Tuesday because of the storm, he added.

Frein has been “pretty even-keeled” as case winds its way to trial, the defense attorney said.